AuthorTopic: Most Underrated Macca Song? (Read 1584 times)

As you wander through Paul's immense catalog, the question arises as to which of his songs was barely noticed or simply under-appreciated at the time of release, but now just sort of captures a vibe that still rings true. Some songs seem to gain strength with time, such as, oh, "Live and Let Die," which wasn't quite the huge hit at the time that everyone seems to remember. "Maybe I'm Amazed" barely cracked the Top Ten as a single, but everybody then seemed to realize it was an awesome track despite that. It's difficult to say that those songs were ever really underrated, though.

Others make a splash at the time but now nobody wants to hear them. Let's put "Ebony and Ivory" in that category. Also "Say Say Say." And "Let 'Em In."

We're talking songs that belong in his current playlist, alongside "Band on the Run." Near-classics, or at least memorable tunes that deserved more fanfare at the time.

Here are some candidates for most underrated McCartney compositions, in no particular order:

If we're talking from a commercial point of view, I'm gonna have to add: 'Backseat Of My Car', 'Mrs. Vandebilt', 'Old Siam, Sir', 'Arrow Through Me' and 'Tug of War', all of which I consider pretty incredible singles that flopped.

If we're talking about underrated among critics and fans, then I could name dozens more, including full albums.

Those are some very good songs you included on your list. Songs like Maybe I'm Amazed (McCartney album version) and Monkberry Moon Delight got lots of airplay even though they weren't released as singles. His first few solo albums were very popular here in the Northeast and I remember his albums being played in full on FM radio shows. When Paul decided to release Maybe I'm Amazed several years later, the live version single was warmly received as we remembered the original version. Also, it was released just after a very successful Wings tour.

Drive My Car has been kept popular here for many years as WCBS-FM uses a part of the song for its traffic reports. They play the full song pretty regularly.

Birthday is a great rocker and fans love it when he plays it live in concert. It was one of my favorite songs on The Beatles LP when it was first released.

I feel it's a great honor for an artist to record a James Bond song. Paul certainly deserved that honor and Live and Let Die was one of the best Bond songs recorded. It was a great way to start a Bond movie and Paul kept it popular by including it in many live sets over the years, complete with dramatic lighting and occasional pyrotechnics. Very dramatic!

My personal memory of "Say Say Say" was taking a ferry from Copenhagen to Turku in Finland. During the awesome buffet, a bunch of Germans at the next table having an animated discussion (I don't know much German). One guy was going blah blah blah blah blah blah, then suddenly he goes "Say Say Say" (singing it), then blah blah blah. It was just kind of funny, kind of shows Paul's immense reach.

Like Bobber I think a lot of Macca's later stuff has been underrated, or more to the point unnoticed. The ones that are making it into a lot of my latest playlists include Calico Sky, Jenny Wren, Too Much Rain, Lonely Road and The Songs We Were Singing.

Calico Sky in particular has made both my wife and daughter independently stop what they're doing and confirm that it's Macca. Paul's simpler acoustic numbers usually are nice pieces.